FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The Alaska Nanooks volleyball team bounced back from their Oct. 3 loss to Northwest Nazarene with a big five-set victory over Central Washington University on Saturday, Oct. 5. The Wildcats took a 2-1 set lead but the Nanooks were able to come back and take the final two for the win, 25-22, 21-25, 21-25, 25-18 and 15-9.
 
The Nanooks began the day with a set one win, grabbing it 25-22. After taking an 18-12 lead, CWU made a small run, cutting the lead to 18-16. Markie Miller led the 'Nooks all game with 16 kills and a .371 hit percentage. While the 16 kills did not lead the way, Miller seemed to be the top target for junior, Cate Whiting. Lahra Weber led the way in the kill category for the Nanooks with 17 on 43 targets while hitting a .279 percentage.  
 
The second set saw a lot change for the Nanooks. Central Washington, a 2018 NCAA West Region participant, looked like last years team in sets two and three as they claimed the set wins, 21-25 in both. 
 
Head coach Brian Scott felt the strong comeback was thanks to the teams adversity, "I was proud of we changed that mentality around late in the third set, and then the fourth. The final set there was a lot of back-and-forth, and they were ahead going into the side change, and then they didn't score the rest of the set. I was so proud to see that. We were able to limit the amount of errors and stay on the attack to grab the kills. Our block was outstanding tonight, we were able to close gaps and not allowing a seem for the opposing attack."
 
Set four, the Nanooks were able to grab the lead at 12-11 and never look back. At one point, Alaska was ahead 24-16 before allowing a few more Central points and finishing them off at 25-18. 
 
Set five, like coach mentioned, was full of back-and-forth volleyball. The Nanooks found themselves on top early, 5-1 but within a matter of minutes, Alaska was trailing on the side flip, 8-6. CWU did grab one point following the side change, but after that one point, the 'Nooks scored six straight to secure the victory.
 
Cate Whiting checked in with 53 assists and 15 digs, and AveRee Reynolds found herself in double-digit kills for the fifth game in a row. She accounted for 14 kills and five block assists. Makena Overbey led the way on defense with 22 digs, followed by 16 from Mica Chen. 
 
This victory was a statement win for Alaska after suffering their first conference game on Thursday, Oct. 3. The Nanooks are now 8-6 overall and 5-1 in GNAC play. The only team ahead of them in conference is Western Washington University who is 6-0 in conference and 14-0 overall. 
 
Alaska hits the road next week to take on Western Oregon on Oct. 10 and Concordia University (Portland) on Oct. 12. Western Oregon finds themselves at 3-10, 1-5 in GNAC but are coming off their first conference win and will be looking to knock off Alaska. Concordia on the other hand have been playing .500 volleyball as they are 6-7, 4-2 GNAC. They are coming off of a sweep of Saint Martin's and Seattle Pacific and will look to gain some ground on the Alaska schools next week. 
 
Both of these games will be available on the opposing schools Stretch Internet Portal's and links will be provided on gamedays. 
 
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks volleyball team, follow @NanooksVB on Twitter, or like the Alaska Nanooks Volleyball team page on Facebook.